Since 1968, Build Up Justice NYC has provided free legal services for low-income residents of Brooklyn, pursuing neighborhood-based mission of justice, empowerment, and community development. For over half a century, we have utilized an array of legal and advocacy strategies—community organizing, affirmative civil rights litigation, and eviction defense to defend the rights of individuals and families. Collaboration with the city, state, and federal officials to enforce housing laws and develop legislative solutions is also an integral part of our strategy. Build Up Justice NYC has three core programs—Preserving Affordable Housing (PAH) Program, Consumer & Economic Advocacy (CEA) Program, and Community & Economic Development (CED) Program—each of which has unique initiatives and plays a vital community role to ensure basic needs are met and fundamental rights affirmed.
The Deputy Director, Group Representation will represent and supervise the representation of low-income tenant associations confronting landlords harassing low-income residents and seeking to vacate buildings; individuals and families facing eviction; low-income tenant co-ops seeking to reinforce and sustain themselves; community institutions facing closures or adverse actions due to extraordinary market pressures and neighborhood displacement; low-income tenants in fair housing litigation; as well as community groups involved in struggles against pervasive housing discrimination, neighborhood segregation, and other issues critically affecting the future of their communities.
They will handle a full caseload of representation non-payment, holdover, HP, 7A, and harassment proceedings in Housing Court in addition to managing grant reporting and ensuring deliverables are met amongst other tasks. The Deputy Director will supervise law fellows/externs and student interns as well as staff attorneys. They will participate in case review meetings pro-bono collaborations and community outreach events.
To be successful in this role, you must have Admission to the bar of the State of New York with a minimum of five years’ experience representing clients in the public sector, low income tenant groups and community organizations. In addition you must have supervised staff attorneys and paralegals and a passion for social justice and helping and representing clients individually and in low-income tenant groups. As a valued team member, you will have a client-based focus and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The most important competencies for the role are:
- Experience supervising a team of attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff;
- Experience working with clients in the public sector, low-income tenant groups, community organizations and/or coalitions;
- Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with client/tenants of different races, ethnicities, ages, and sexual orientations in a multicultural environment;
- An understanding of the City’s housing market and/or experience in housing law practice;
- Ability to work independently with strong motivation, to manage a high case load, to meet deadlines, and to be flexible;
- Have excellent legal writing, litigation and advocacy skills;
- Experience writing narrative reports for grant and contracts and to generate and monitor case metrics for quantitative contract reporting;
- Computer proficiency sufficient to independently review and generate materials relevant to the position as well as track client information in our database, prepare reports for grantors, attend meetings, and perform administrative tasks related to the work, such as timekeeping and case notes;
- Demonstrated ability to publish articles effectively advocating on behalf of clients and Build Up Justice NYC;
- Language proficiency relevant to our clients, especially Spanish; and
- Willingness, desire, and ability to attend evening meetings.
Compensation & Benefits
Annual salary $110,000-130,000, dependent on years of experience. Benefits highlights - employer paid health insurance; 27 days annual vacation, employer contribution to 401(k); and paid parental leave.
Build Up Justice NYC is a diverse team that is committed to recruiting, supporting, retaining, and promoting a talented staff with diverse backgrounds and experiences that share the organization's commitment to racial, economic and social justice. At Build Up Justice NYC, diversity encompasses a variety of characteristics, lifestyles, and perspectives, including race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, education, disability, socio-economic status, and family status. We firmly believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is essential to both the quality of our client services and the personal satisfaction of our staff.
We encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply, including women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, people from low-income backgrounds, and with lived experiences in the communities we serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, or length of time spent unemployed.
